The Most Public Index, Silicon Valley
NowPublic today announced its second MostPublic Index, identifying the 50 most influential individuals in Silicon Valley/San Francisco. The MostPublic Index is a detailed (and transparent) barometer of who’s voices are most heard in the digital landscape as new channels—Twitter, Facebook, Flick, YouTube and the like—transform how media is created and spread. Last week, NowPublic identified and announced the 50 MostPublic influencers in New York.
“Last week’s MostPublic Index/New York created a lot of dialogue around several themes. Is this a PR stunt? Is NowPublic link-baiting? Is MostPublic a valid and relevant barometer?” said Leonard Brody, CEO and Co-Founder of NowPublic. “We believe that new media tools redefine who the online newsmakers and reporters are. This is part of the foundation upon which NowPublic is built. Traditional influence lists are increasingly irrelevant because they’re predicated on outdated factors and metrics. Did we steal a play from an old media PR conceit (lists)? Yes. Do we want more traffic? Of course. But today there are almost innumerable ways for one’s voice to be heard. The goal of the MostPublic Index is to measure—on a completely transparent, metric-driven basis—who is most effectively broadcasting their own personal brand online and who are the emerging players.”
NowPublic’s formula gauges influence and “publicness” across four categories, including:
o Online Visibility
o Presence on User-Generated Content and Social Networking Sites
o Interactivity and Accessibility
o The “R” Factor: Presence on Microblogging Platforms (Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.)
NowPublic examined statistics in each of these categories from Alexa, Compete, Facebook, Flickr, Google, Quantcast, Technorati, YouTube, and various other blogs and sites, to create a list of Silicon Valley’s leading influencers. It then narrowed the list to 50 by analyzing and documenting individuals’ presence and popularity in each of these channels, applying a weighted scoring system, determined by the strength of specific traits held in each online community.
Without further ado, NowPublic proudly presents the MostPublic individuals in Silicon Valley/San Francisco:
- Robert Scoble
- Michael Arrington
- Jack Dorsey
- Biz Stone
- Matt Cutts
- Pete Cashmore
- Dave Winer
- Guy Kawasaki
- Loïc Le Meur
- Kevin Rose
- Merlin Mann
- Stowe Boyd
- Jeff Atwood
- Jeremiah Owyang
- Veronica Belmont
- Kara Swisher
- Scott Beale
- Marc Andreessen
- Ryan Block
- David Sifry
- Emily Chang
- Om Malik
- Timothy Ferriss
- Nick Douglas
- John Battelle
- David Cohn
- Louis Gray
- Tom Foremski
- Tim O’Reilly
- Ariel Waldman
- Matt Mullenweg
- Dean Takahashi
- Philip Kaplan
- JD Lasica
- Sarah Lacy
- Brian Solis
- Charlene Li
- Rafe Needleman
- Dan Farber
- Howard Rheingold
- David McClure
- Margaret Mason
- Jason Goldman
- Leah Culver
- Chris Shipley
- Jackson West
- Liz Gannes
- Owen Thomas
- Adeo Ressi
- Max Levchin
NowPublic will issue periodic MostPublic indexes across a variety of categories, including: American cities; European cities; South Asian Cities; musical influencers; political influencers, pop culture influencers and sports influencers, among others. The next MostPublic Index will identify the most public individuals in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
The Index is calculated using the following formula:
The Index is calculated using the following formula:
1. How visible is the individual?
- How many Google search results does the individual garner?
- Under 20,000: 1 Point
- 20,000-49,999: 2 Points
- 50,000-99,999: 3 Points
- 100,00-599,999: 4 Points
- 600,000- 999,999: 5 Points
- 1,000,000 and above: 6 Points
- Where does the individual rank on Technorati?
- Ranked 1,000,000 or over: 1 Point
- Ranked 500,000- 999,999: 2 Points
- Ranked 100,000- 499,999: 3 Points
- Ranked 10,000- 99,999: 4 Points
- Ranked 1,000- 9,999: 5 Points
- Ranked 100-999: 6 Points
- Ranked Under 100: 7 Points
- What is the individual’s Alexa and QuantCast average?
- 500,000+: 1 Point
- 100,000- 499,999: 2 Points
- 50,000- 99,999: 3 Points
- 10,000- 49,999: 4 Points
- 5,000- 9,999: 5 Points
- 1,500- 4,999: 6 Points
- 1- 1,499: 7 Points
- Where does the individual rank on Compete.com?
- 500,000+: 1 Point
- 200,000- 499,999: 2 Points
- 100,000- 199,999: 3 Points
- 40,000- 99,999: 4 Points
- 20,000- 39,999: 5 Points
- 10,000- 19,999: 6 Points
- 1- 9,999: 7 Points
2. How present is the individual in user-generated sites?
- How many search results does the individual garner on YouTube?
- 1 to 19 videos: 1 Point
- 20 to 49 videos: 2 Points
- 50 to 99 videos: 3 Points
- 100-199 videos: 4 Points
- 200 videos and above: 5 Points
- How active is the individual on Facebook?
- Does the individual have a profile? 2 Points
- How many Facebook friends does the individual have?
- Under 150 Friends: 1 Point
- 150-349 Friends: 2 Points
- 350- 499 Friends: 3 Points
- 500 Friends and above: 4 Points
3. Does the individual participate in micro-blogging?
- How many microblogging tools does the individual use (tumblr, flickr)? 3 Points Each
- Twitter: 5 Points
- Number of Twitter Updates:
- 100-300: 1 Point
- 300-1,000: 2 Points
- 1,000-2,500: 3 Points
- 2,500+: 4 Points
Number of Twitter Followers:
- 100-300: 1 Point
- 300-1,000: 2 Points
- 1,000-2,500: 3 Points
- 2,500+: 4 Points
4. How interactive/accessible is the individual?
- Does the individual offer a message board? 2 Points
- Does the individual offer their email address or a contact form? 2 Points
- Does the individual respond to readerposts or participate in online chat? 2 Points
Tags: San Francisco | palo alto | Silicon Valley | mountainview | Tech & Biz | Most Public Index

